The Louisiana Board of Ethics has filed a total of three dozen ethics charges against former Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard, his former top administrator, Tim Whitmer, and Whitmer's wife, Dawn.

Times-Picayune archiveFormer Parish President Aaron Broussard

The bulk of the violations are tied to an agreement between the Whitmers' private insurance agency and the board of a public West Jefferson hospital while Broussard and Tim Whitmer were in parish government.

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The Ethics Board filed the charges Dec. 17 to avoid any statutes of limitations, but Whitmer had been in settlement discussions with state attorneys for several months, said Dane Ciolino, the attorney for the Whitmers and Lagniappe.

"In principle, he has admitted to some of these violations and is going to hopefully resolve them through a consent resolution," Ciolino said. He added that he was uncertain of the total penalties that the Whitmers and Lagniappe are facing.

Julian Murray, an attorney representing Broussard temporarily after his initial attorney, Mike Ellis, retired for medical reasons, said Tuesday that it wouldn't be appropriate for him to comment.

Judges Alvin Landry and John Kopynec of the Administrative Law Division spoke with the defense attorneys Friday for scheduling purposes, according to state documents. The Administrative Law Division adjudicates charges filed by the Ethics Board.

View full sizeTimes-Picayune archiveIn January 2010, Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard speaks to the media at after his chief administrative officer, Tim Whitmer, announced his resignation.

The alleged violations provide a cursory map of the scandal that dismantled Broussard's administration one year ago. After news reports detailed Lagniappe's involvement at West Jefferson Medical Center and its work with several parish contractors, federal authorities launched a wide-ranging criminal investigation. No indictments have been issued in the case.

Broussard and Whitmer resigned in January 2010. Former Parish Attorney Tom Wilkinson resigned in March under pressure from interim Parish President Steve Theriot.

The charges against Tim Whitmer focus not only on his role as the parish's No. 2 executive, but also as a member of the parish's Insurance Advisory Committee while Lagniappe was doing business with contractors and the medical center. The ethics board stated that the hospital was "under his supervision or jurisdiction of his agency" at the time.

The Ethics Board alleged that Whitmer accepted "a thing of economic value" from several insurance providers, including CIGNA, Coventry Health Care, Humana Health Care, Colonial Life and Davis Vision, companies that either had contracts with Jefferson Parish or sought to do business with the government. The companies paid Lagniappe for its work selling and managing policies, records show.

The Whitmers and Lagniappe were also cited for entering into cooperative endeavor agreements with two other insurance agencies managed by politically connected associates. Former Parish President Tim Coulon ran Coulon Consultants and the late Maurice "Hippo" Katz had Katz & Katz, records show. Lagniappe also shared commissions with B&A Insurance, an agency owned by Gary Burke that does insurance work for several public entities in the New Orleans area.

Times-Picayune archiveTim Whitmer and his wife, Dawn, leave the federal courthouse in New Orleans on Dec. 4, 2009

The charges against Tim Whitmer also cite Lagniappe's work for several parish contractors, including Sizeler Architects, Fleming Construction, Kass Brothers Inc., Veolia Transportation Services, Hubbard Enterprises, River Birch Inc. and Murray White, president of Beta Testing & Inspection. Hubbard Enterprises was owned by former St. John the Baptist Parish President Bill Hubbard, who pleaded guilty in 2009 to federal bribery charges. River Birch Inc. is also under federal investigation for its contract to dispose of all household waste in unincorporated Jefferson Parish.

Broussard faces fewer charges, but no less serious. The Ethics Board accused him of violating state law when he accepted $5,000 for doing "legal work" for Lagniappe Industries in 2009. It also cited him for accepting $4,500 each year from 2007 through 2009 as a holiday gift certificate from his staff.

During those three years, department directors and Broussard's executive staff each gave $100 to be pooled for Broussard's gift. Whitmer, who sent e-mails asking for the donations, faces two additional ethics charges for using his position to "directly, in a manner intended to compel the executive staff of Jefferson Parish to give the parish president a thing of economic value.

The next round of hearings before the Administrative Law Division are scheduled for March 29 and April 1.